The Secret Diary of Alana Jane Smith
by CountryGrl
Summary: It's not every day you find out your parents are undercover alien investigators. Twelve-year-old Alana Jane Smith is about to discover that life on Earth can be an adventure, too!
1. Secrets

**AN: **I've had this idea in my head for such a long time, and I finally thought of how to write the first line. It just went on from there! Reviews would be _really _appreciated. I don't think I've seen an SJA story like this, so I'm trying it out, but I'm not overly confident it's going to work. But enough from me! Enjoy! ;)

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**Chapter One  
****Secrets**

Until I was twelve years old, they were just stories. Wonderful stories, yes, but still stories. Mum used to sing me to sleep with the Lullaby of Arcateen, and Dad told me tales of the Abomination and the Veil, when he wanted to scare me. I didn't mind, though. I was a curious kid, always asking questions, and I _loved _being scared.

But it wasn't _real_. It was just a fantasy world, Mum and Dad's made-up tales about aliens and monsters. They were stories. I never saw any of it, and when my parents were at work I'd stay with my Granddad, so to me it was just an imaginary game.

And then, one day, I came home from school to find my Mum talking to a cactus, and nothing was ever the same again.

* * *

Before I go any further with my story, I suppose I'd better introduce myself. My name is Alana Jane Smith. I'm now almost thirteen, am still very short for my age, with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes, which I inherited from my mum. My grandma always says I look exactly the same as my mum did when they first met.

My grandma is Sarah Jane Smith, and she is one of my favourite people in all the world. She lives in a big house, across the road from my best friend Jake, so I see her nearly every day. I love my grandma's house, it always seems so full of secrets. When I was little, I spent many hours exploring it, every hiding place in every room, and every time I went there seemed to be something different to discover.

There was one place, though, I was never to go in. And despite my inquisitive, inquiring mind, I never did. I never understood why, either, until now. But I'll get to that part soon.

For now, I'll need to fill you in on my mum and the talking cactus.

* * *

I was late home from school, because Jake had detention for being cheeky to a teacher, and we _always _walk home together, no matter what. Grandma says Jake gets his mischievous side from his dad.

The front door was unlocked, and I was taking my school bag off my shoulder, ready to go upstairs and get changed, when I heard an unfamiliar voice, coming from the kitchen.

"Thank you, Mrs Smith. Without your help we would never have been able to obtain the rest of the fuel. We hope that our visit has not been…inconvenient."

Next came my mother's voice. I began creeping through the living room to listen at the door as she said, "Not at all, Mr Varn. Will you be able to commence take-off soon? Only I'm not sure how long we can keep UNIT off the crash site."

"Immediately." came the voice again.

The door was open just a crack, and I could just catch a glimpse of a tall, thin man, standing in front of my mother. And he was green. With spikes.

I couldn't help gasping out loud.

"Who's there?" my mum asked. "Ajay?"

She knew I was there. There was only one thing for it. I opened the door, entered the room, and took a proper, long look at my mum's visitor.

It didn't look like a costume.

"Mum," I asked slowly, "What is happening?"

The cactus coughed. "I suppose I'd better be going. Goodbye, Mrs Smith."

And put his hands together, pressed something on his wrist…and was gone.

He vanished, leaving the two of us just staring at each other, wondering who was going to speak first.

"Maria?" the sound of my dad's voice as he came down the stairs reached my ears, and he entered the room. "Maria, what's happened?"

Mum looked at him, dumbly, then said, "She knows."

"Who does?"

They both looked at me.

"Oh." said Dad, and I couldn't understand his tone, or expression.

"Excuse me?" I said, "Can somebody tell me what is going on? There was a _cactus _standing in front of me, just a minute ago, I think I deserve some explanations."

"Vinvocci," said dad slowly, "He's a Vinvocci. 'Cactus' is racist."

* * *

I was angry at first, angry that they'd kept it all from me. I wasn't a child any more! I felt like they'd lied to me all these years, telling me all those aliens and creatures were just stories.

And then they explained, and I began to understand.

* * *

"We were always going to tell you, one day," said Mum. "But not while you're so young. Things…could have happened."

"It's dangerous," said Dad, "The universe is a big place. There's a lot of evil things out there, things that don't care if they destroy a whole planet, let alone one little girl."

"I'm not a little girl," I said stubbornly.

"We know." said Mum. "We only wanted to protect you."

"You could still have told me," I argued, "I wouldn't have gone off and fought aliens on my own, you know."

"Wouldn't you?" they both said at the same time.

"Well…_yes_," I said, and I had to laugh.

They smiled too, and for a little while, it was enough. But there was still something they were hiding from me, I could sense it.

* * *

I was quiet all day the next day at school, and Jake noticed. But because he's Jake, he didn't really ask me about it, just kept on trying to make me laugh, which got him into even more trouble than he already does.

Jake is my best friend in all the world. He's the same age as me, only taller, and with dark skin, as his dad's family's from Africa and his mum's is from India. He loves sport, and is always telling me I should play football too, only I'm terrible at it. His other passion is cooking, only he made it quite clear when we were ten years old that if I ever told anyone at school that, he'd never talk to me again. He doesn't mean it, though. We're inseparable.

He's always laughing at me for using long words like 'inseparable', too. I might look very like my mum, but my grandma says I get my brains from my dad. When started school, the teacher asked me to do an IQ test, and I scored 186, which means I'm a genius, but no-one at school knows that, except Jake of course. I tell Jake almost everything, and he tells me everything too.

Only that first day though, I didn't tell him anything about what I'd found out. It was like some big shadow looming behind me, and if I talked about it I was scared it would swallow me up.


	2. Explanations

AN: I must thank LostLyra and xDoctorWhoFreekx for their encouraging reviews! Thank you! I'm not overly happy with this chapter, but I was just itching to write more, so…here goes!

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**Chapter Two  
****Explanations?**

If my grandmother's house is my second home, Jake's is a very close third. The next day was Saturday, and we'd arranged with a few of our other friends to go down to the skateboard park that afternoon, so I walked round to his house to meet him.

I never knock on their door, just like Jake never knocks on ours, so I just walked in. His mum came in from the kitchen, and told me he was upstairs getting dressed – trust Jake not to be ready yet.

I'm really close to Jake's mum, almost like she's a member of my family. I think it's because she was best friends with my mum and dad when they were all teenagers – they still are best friends. I call her by her first name, which is Rani, because she says "Mrs Langer" makes her sound old.

"Rani," I said, sitting down on the sofa in their living room, "Have you ever had something…I dunno, bother you?"

She came and sat next to me, grinning. "Can you be a bit more specific?"

I sighed. "Mum and Dad told me something that…I'm not sure if I…it's complicated."

I met her eyes, expecting her to be confused by that, but instead they told me she understood, somehow. The grin was gone and her face was suddenly serious.

"They told you." she said, and immediately I knew she knew what I was talking about.

"More like I found out." I replied, but nodded.

"And how do you feel about that?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," I said, "It's a shock, I guess."

"Of course it is." There was a pause. "It was a really long time ago, Alana, and you were so young, they thought you'd never have to know. They were trying to keep you safe."

Hold on. This wasn't making sense. "What?"

She stopped, looked at me quizzically, "You mean…they didn't tell you about…that?"

I shook my head. "I found out about the aliens. Saw one. In the kitchen. What were you talking about? What happened when I was young?"

Rani suddenly looked very guilty. "I'm sorry, Ajay, I thought you were talking about something else. I'm sorry. I don't think it's my place to tell you about…this. You need to ask your mum and dad."

I shook my head again, feeling the anticipation and anger creeping up on me, "Tell me! What is it?"

But Rani just sighed, and put her hand on my arm. "It'll all make sense, soon."

"I'm sick of this!" I exclaimed, "Why won't anyone tell me the truth any more?"

I stood up then, knowing I was behaving like a stupid child but not caring. Jake had come downstairs by now, was waiting at the door. I pushed past him, ran down the driveway.

"Ajay, wait!" he called after me, but I didn't stop walking.

* * *

Jake caught up with me at the top of his road. Didn't say anything, just walked alongside me until I slowed down.

When we were walking normally again, he said, "What was all that about?"

I shrugged. "A lot of stuff. Well, not really. I don't know."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"All right."

* * *

We carried on walking until we reached the park. Our friends – Laura, Cammi, Isaac and Nathan – were already there, the boys showing off their skateboarding skills to the girls, who weren't really that impressed.

I'm alright on a skateboard. Mum says that must come from my Granddad Alan, her dad, who's brilliant, because it's definitely not from my own dad, who's terrible at it. Jake's quite good too, though he can't flip it over under his feet, he always falls off (which is quite funny, actually.)

"Hey, guys!" Jake yelled as we walked over to them.

"Jake, Alana! You took your time," said Nathan.

"Yeah, sorry man," said Jake, "Can't help having such a hectic social life."

Nathan shook his head. "You wish. Watch this."

We stood back and watched has he did a perfect 360 turn over the ramps. "Not bad," Jake said critically, though we all know Nathan's the best skateboarder out of us all.

As Jake took his skateboard up onto the ramp, I went to lean on the park fence with Laura and Cammi. I suppose after Jake they're my best friends, but I don't know them all that well. I find I don't really need too many friends. Bit of a loner, that's me.

After saying hello, we didn't really talk much, just watched the others. After a while Laura went up to join in and Cammi texted someone on her mobile. I was just left to think.

What had Rani meant, 'you were so young', 'they thought you'd never have to know'? What had my parents been keeping from me? It must be something big, else Rani wouldn't have looked so…scared.

I wondered if Grandma knew about all this. She's the most mysterious person I know, I think. And Jake, too – if his mum knew about this terrible thing, did he? His dad? My granddad?

It felt like the whole world knew more about my life than I did.

* * *

It stated to rain. We walked home together, Jake and Nathan still discussing skateboard tactics and Cammi and Laura panicking about getting their hair wet. My hair's frizzy anyway, so I don't really care.

One by one the others went their separate ways, until it was just me and Jake left. As we came to my house first, I said he might as well come in 'til it had stopped raining.

The living room was full of people.

My mum was there, and my dad, and my Grandma, and my Granddad Alan, and Jake's parents too.

"Alana Jane," said Mum, "Come and sit down. We need to talk to you."

* * *

Finally they told me everything. But they had to fill Jake in on the alien part first.

"Whoa." was his first reaction. "So all you lot, like, meet aliens? For real?"

They all nodded. Jake's eyes were shining. "That's so cool! Are they evil? Do you blow them up?"

My grandmother burst out laughing. "Oh, Clyde," she said to Jake's dad, "He sounds _exactly _like you!"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Well? Do you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say _blow up_ was the best way to describe it," said Clyde, "Most of them just need us to let them know who's boss. And we tell 'em!"

"Some of them don't even want to invade," said Grandma, "They might have crashed, or got lost…and some of them just come to visit Earth. And why wouldn't they?"

"It's a wonderful place to be!" the entire room chorused back at us.

"Your grandma," said Clyde, to me, "was a bit cheesy back in the old days."

"Excuse me!" said Grandma, mock-annoyed, "I'm sitting right here!"

"You were, though," said Clyde, "Don't deny it…"

"Ahem," my dad cleared his throat, "If we could, you know? Only we're supposed to be letting the younger generation in on the secret, here."

"Good old Luke," Jake's dad muttered, "Always the killjoy…"

It was strange to see the grownups acting like kids again. It was even stranger to see the change in their faces as they began to tell us about the serious things. About what happened all those years ago.


	3. The Truth

**AN: Sorry I've been a while updating...bad me. But I'm here now! Sorry if this chapter is a bit...boring, but it's back story which will be important later on. Thanks to my lovely reviewers, you're all brilliant, and enjoy! :)**

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Chapter Three

The Truth

''We - that is, your mum, Rani, Clyde and I - were working for UNIT,'' Dad began. ''They're like the army, but they deal with aliens. Your Grandmother worked with them in her younger days, but decided they were too into guns for her liking.''

''They're better now, though,'' said Mum, ''At least, the department we worked for were. The technology they've got now means they don't have to be so...brutal.''

''It was our third year working there,'' Dad continued. ''We'd finally passed all the preliminary levels, and were allowed to undertake our own missions. The four of us. And at first, that's all it was, just a mission. There was a ship in Earth's orbit which was sending out energy pulses.''

''We teleported up there,'' Mum said, ''Project Indigo had been perfected by then, but...there were loopholes.''

''When UNIT first commissioned Project Indigo, the person being teleported couldn't always control where they were going to end up,'' Dad explained. ''And sometimes if the teleporter couldn't get you where it was supposed to, it would sort of _hack in _to your memory, and take you to a place you were familiar with. The first person to try it thought her atoms were going to be scattered to bits when the teleporter went wrong, but instead she ended up at home.''

''We weren't worried though,'' continued Mum, ''Because we knew we'd set the co-ordinates right to end up on the ship.''

''And we did,'' said Dad. ''Which is where we met the owners. Aliens, of course, but...they would not give their names. They called themselves the Dark Ones, and as their bodies were composed of a black mist, it was kind of a good name.''

''There wasn't much time for introductions, though,'' Mum said, ''They had a plan. Their own planet had been...destroyed, lost, in a war. And given time, they were going to cover the Earth in their black mist which would convert it into a replica of their own planet.''

''They were so sure it would go well,'' Dad continued, ''That they told us their whole plan. Big mistake. We stopped them, of course, but at a price.''

''We made it impossible for their ship to release any of the black mist, so they couldn't convert the Earth,'' said Mum, ''But it made them angry.''

''They sent us back to Earth without our teleporters. And they used the Indigo devices to hack into our memory, find out what was most precious to us. And when we got back...you were gone, Alana Jane.''

I swallowed. ''Me?''

They both nodded. ''But not...not just you.'' said Mum, her voice suddenly very small. ''We've got to tell her, Luke. We can't just tell her half the story.''

There was a pause, before Dad said, ''You...and your brother.''

* * * *

_''Alana Jane, we've got something exciting to tell you.''_

_''What is it, Mummy?''_

_''You're going to be a big sister. Mummy's having a baby.''_

* * * *

I remember having that dream, when I was about seven. The next morning I asked Mum why I didn't have any brothers or sisters. Suddenly she looked very sad, and told me she didn't know. Even though I was just a little kid, I had the good sense not to ask her any more. I didn't want to see that look in her eyes ever again.

But when Dad said those words, the look was back.

And it scared me.

* * * *

_**AN: I realise this chapter hasn't got an awful lot in it. I was thinking of telling the story in flashbacks, but went with the narrative thing instead. Let me know it you have ideas for it to be improved. -CountryGrl**_


	4. Bright Lights

**AN: I'm ba-ack! I know, it's been a long time. I completely abandoned FF.N for a while in favour of trivial things like exams and school work. I'm sorry. Consider this a peace offering.**

**DISCLAIMER: It's called _fan_fiction...I'll let you come to your own conclusion.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four  
****Bright Lights **

The room was filled with a horrible silence. We'd all been listening intently to my parents as they told the story, but now even they were quiet. My mind was full of questions – I was an only child! How could I have a brother? – but I couldn't bring myself to put any of them into words.

After what seemed like an eternity, Dad spoke again. "It was almost two weeks before Mr. Smith had perfected replicas of the Indigo teleporters we could use to get you back. It was the worst time of our lives, we had no way of knowing…you were only two, Alana Jane, and your brother…he was just under a year. You couldn't take care of yourselves, we didn't even know if you were still...alive."

Mum took over, her voice still quiet. "It was risky, going back. The ship had moved on by then so we had to guess the co-ordinates. Mr. Smith helped, of course, but there was still the possibility that we wouldn't be able to reach you – but we did."

"They'd put you in a stasis cell, to preserve you, so you didn't starve," Dad continued. "We were able to break the codes holding you, Alana Jane, but…"

"Your brother was nowhere to be found." Mum said, sounding choked. "We think…at least…they must have…"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. It was obvious how it ended.

I felt like I'd walked into a very solid brick wall. There was a tightness in my chest and I wanted to scream and cry at the same time but I could do neither, it was as if I was paralysed.

"After that, we quit UNIT," Dad said softly, "We still dealt with aliens, freelance, like the old days, but nothing too dangerous. We couldn't risk anything happening to you, Ajay, not again. And so…we kept it from you. For as long as we could. We should have known it wouldn't last."

Finally I found the ability to speak. "You should have told me," I managed. "About…" I faltered, realising with despair that I didn't even know my brother's name.

"Christopher," Mum whispered, "His name was Christopher."

* * *

"Ajay!"

I was walking to school the next Monday morning, alone. I hadn't waited for Jake like usual – since the revelation, I'd spent a lot of time on my own, thinking, and I didn't really feel like talking. Nevertheless, he caught me up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Jake, just leave it," I snapped, not wanting to be mean but _really_ not wanting him to push it.

"Don't sound fine." he said, "That news really shook you up, hey?"

I sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You should, though," he countered. "Can't keep quiet about stuff forever, can you? That's what your mum and dad tried to do, and look where that ended up."

I had to admit he had a point. "All right," I said, "Yes, it did shake me up. Yes, I haven't stopped thinking about it the whole time. My whole life is different, Jake, my whole life's been a lie up until two days ago."

He didn't answer straight away, but then, "They weren't lying to you, Alana Jane. They were trying to protect you."

"From what? From knowing about my own past, my own _brother_? They lied to me. They're my parents and they lied."

Jake grabbed my arm, forced me to slow my pace. "They were scared. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same, if you were a mum."

I hesitated. "Well…maybe."

"You can't blame them for wanting to keep you safe."

I let that statement hang in the air, thinking it over. "I suppose."

We were almost at school by now. Just before we entered the gates, I gave Jake's arm a tight squeeze. "Thanks."

He looked slightly embarrassed. "It's okay."

I grinned. It was amazing how much better I felt. It hadn't gone away, of course, the feeling, whatever it was, but thanks to Jake, I wasn't angry at my parents any more. Finally I could be sure of one of the feelings dashing around in my head, and it made a change.

* * *

When I arrived home I found my mum in the kitchen, by the sink, clearly cleaning some small object, but I couldn't see what, didn't care. I threw my arms around her tightly, the pent up emotion from the last two days suddenly fizzling out, now that my head was clearer.

She looked slightly surprised, but smiled. "I love you, Alana Jane," she said. "You know that's why we did it, don't you?"

"Yes," I said, my voice slightly muffled. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

We stayed there like that for a moment, then I pulled away, "So what are you doing?"

Her eyes lit up. "This," she said, proffering the object in her hands which I now saw was glowing faintly, "is a lightpod from Ambien 6. It fell to earth a few days ago, landed in an old lady's back garden, I'm just cleaning it up a bit. Watch this."

Mum twisted the object in her hands, like wringing a towel, then set it down on the kitchen counter. At first there was nothing, but then, suddenly, a ray of brilliant blue light burst out from the centre, illuminating the ceiling above it. I watched as it turned from blue to red to yellow to green, and then the light split and there was a perfect rainbow, not curved like the ones we see in the sky, but straight up towards the ceiling. It seemed to sparkle with gold, but the colours were still clear and bright.

"It's beautiful," I said, breathlessly. "Is it…alien?"

"Yes." Mum nodded, her eyes transfixed. She broke her gaze and looked straight at me. "There are so many things out there, Ajay, so many wonderful, beautiful things. I've waited so long to share some of it with you. But it's not all like this…there are some truly evil things in our universe, too. So promise me something, Alana Jane. If this life – this crazy, unbelievable life, with the aliens and the planets and everything – if it's what you want, I won't stop you. But please, be careful."

I nodded. It meant a lot that she'd finally decided she could trust me. "I promise."

"Good." She put her arm through mine. "Now come on, let's go to your grandma's. There's someone I'd like you to meet.


	5. Not My Grandfather

**AN: Well, for me, this is a fast update ;) Hope you enjoy! And please leave a review! **

**DISCLAIMER: I can but dream.**

**Chapter Five  
****Not My Grandfather**

I love Grandma's house. There's just something about it which feels almost magic. Maybe it's because it's sort of like a time machine, being in the house my dad grew up in. There are pictures of him as a teenager – none of him any younger though, I've always wondered why that is – and some of mum too, and Jake's parents. The house is huge, but not intimidating like it could be – it's really welcoming. That's probably because it's so familiar, but whatever the reason – I love it.

Mum and I walked arm in arm to Grandma's that day, after our talk. Grandma let us in with a beaming smile, hugging us both at the same time – Grandma does a lot of hugging. That's one of my favourite things about her.

"Sarah Jane," Mum said, "Ajay's made her decision."

"And?"

"She's one of us."

Grandma looked overjoyed. "Then can we take her…?"

"Yes."

Mystified, I followed the two of them up the broad staircase. I couldn't imagine what on earth they were going to show me – I was sure I'd seen everything there was to see of my second home. I was wrong.

We reached the top of the staircase, stood on the landing where there had always been nothing but the doors to the upstairs rooms. Nothing else. Only now…

I gasped. Beside the stair rail we'd just used, there was another flight of steps. Going up. What's more, they were sort of…ghostly. Like they weren't really there: phantom stairs!

Mum saw my shocked expression and took my hand. "It's okay, I know it's weird, but just walk up like you can see them normally. The perception filter's only just been turned off, it won't have fully left yet."

"Perception filter…?" I murmured questioningly, but the thought slipped away as I started the strangest ascent of my life. I put my foot out to where it looked like the first step was, and could feel its solidity, but it still looked like it was made of a cloud. I felt so unsteady – it was the weirdest sensation ever.

Finally we reached the top and there was a single door in front of us. It looked more solid but still slightly surreal. Grandma opened it, an odd look of pride on her face, then stood back, gesturing for me to enter.

…The room I found myself in took my breath away.

It was a vast attic, but not dusty and cobwebby like other people's… it was fantastic. Filled with strange and wonderful things, unfamiliar plants and pulsating lights. Though it wasn't cloudy and not-quite-there like the stairs had been, it was just as unbelievable. For a moment I couldn't speak – I was becoming used to being rendered speechless over the past few days.

"Welcome to the attic," Grandma said, and I spun round to see her and mum standing behind me, both grinning.

"Mum," I said, finally finding my tongue, "You said there was someone you wanted me to meet…"

"Ah yes..." she said, "Sarah Jane – would you like to do the honours?"

Wondering what on earth she could mean but sure I'd find out soon, I followed my grandmother as she strolled further into the attic, down a couple of steps, coming to a stop in front of what appeared to be an ordinary wall.

"Mr Smith? I need you."

I was almost knocked backwards by the sudden gust of wind which seemed to come out of the fast-widening gap in the wall. The bricks themselves came apart to reveal something unlike anything I'd ever seen before…a massive - and I mean _humongous _-computer screen, tiny lights dancing around the impossibly complicated keyboard which extended out from underneath, covered in levers and buttons aplenty.

"Hello, Alana Jane." It said. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Two days ago, if you'd told me that I'd soon be standing in front of an amazing and probably alien supercomputer which spoke and somehow knew my name – and was capable of "meeting" me? – I'd have laughed in your face.

Today I just blinked, and said, "Hello."

"Mr Smith, Alana Jane is now _officially _one of the team," Grandma announced. "Can you see that the perception filter is removed completely? She had some trouble getting up the stairs."

"Yeah, mum mentioned that before, what's a perception filter?" I asked curiously.

Mum stepped forwards, "It was for your own safety, Ajay – it's a device that filters what you can see – perceive - and what you can't. We used it so you couldn't see the flight of steps leading to the attic so you wouldn't go and investigate."

I made a face. "So it was like…altering my brain?"

"Sort of," Grandma agreed, flicking some switches on the computer's front panels. She turned to look at me. "Sorry."

I shook my head, letting it pass, though it was a strange thing to think about. "So this computer…"

"Mr Smith is a Xylok, a member of an alien crystalline race, renowned in the universe for their incredible knowledge and potential," Grandma explained. "He can do almost anything, technology-wise, hack into any computer system, download information on possible alien threats – makes a rubbish cuppa though."

"'Mr Smith'?" I grinned, "Sounds like he should be my grandfather!"

My mother and grandmother laughed. "I can assure you," the computer intoned in the same calm, smooth voice, "That human pro-creation is not within my –admittedly extensive- capabilities."

"Mr Smith!" Grandma sounded mock-shocked. "That's quite enough of that."

"Quite enough of what?"

A familiar voice made my dad's presence known, and I ran over to where he stood in the doorway of the attic, throwing my arms around him. He hugged me back. "Hello, Alana Jane. Been introduced to the boys?"

"Boys?" I queried.

"Oh, that's right!" Grandma's hand flew to her mouth. "There's someone else you need to meet. K9! Here, boy!"

I was losing the ability to be surprised at anything, I swear. Out from behind a stack of boxes rolled a metal dog on wheels, silver tail waving from side to side in apparent greeting.

"K9, this is Alana Jane!" Grandma exclaimed.

"It is a pleasure, young mistress." The dog said, raising its metal head as if to look at me.

Well, if the computer can talk, who's to say the robot dog can't too.


End file.
